According to Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors needed Kevin Durant to win championships following the NBA 2015-16 season.
The 2016 NBA Finals saw one of the greatest comebacks made by the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they returned from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors. Following that season, the Warriors managed to sign one of the league's best players as they went on a dominant run. The two best teams they faced during this time were the 2017 Cleavland Cavaliers and the 2018 Houston Rockets. Green touched on both the teams while emphasizing Kevin Durant's importance.
"We would not have beat the Cavs coming back around without Kevin, and here's why. Teams had figured us out, and I don't think Steph Curry had figured it out at that point. I'm going to get a bucket whenever I want to. I don't think he was capable of that," Green said.
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Green did not have the same respect for the Houston Rockets, who won 65 games in the 2018 regular season and were 3-2 up on the Warriors before Chris Paul got injured. Green said about the Rockets challenge, "Yeah, we were beating them for sure. That team was never going to beat us, was not going to happen."
While hypotheticals can be debated, one thing that can't be disputed is Kevin Durant's exceptional performance in the 2017 Finals that won the Warriors their second championship in three years. Durant scored an absurd 35.2 points per game on insane shooting splits of 56/47/93. Durant won the Finals MVP for averaging the most points in a finals series in 17 years.